Bait-fish holder



15, 1950 w. v. BELL 2,518,593

BAIT-FISH HOLDER Filed April 25, 1947 WILLIAM V. BE LL Zmventor Q TM Patented Aug. 15y 195 0 7 2,518,592; EAi tIlLFESnHQL ER Willam'V-eeu, se aa, .wasa- 1815 51 iczl tienesprit-2 5, 194i', se ia1 No-. 43,861

My present invention relates toithe art of,

fishing lures, and 'more particularly; to a baitfish holder; 7 v

Despite" the? large nhinher of artificial l ure's,'l

' such asplugs spoons,. and combinations of the same, which. have been cteatedflf the Easing of the larger fish; trienaare inanyj conditions I'mder whibh' the se ff fresh 'fis'li oft'fie' kind. com monly. sup lying; e: normal r'oos for e ash.

sought is by an means tne mo t'enectfivefmre that In the past; one objection toj using the natural foodfish as a lure has bteenthe'. diificulty of*pre-' sensin the in a. life? in; manner" and: a1so--to maintainitfirra life e manner... Too often, where thefish isflmerely' applied to; me. hook, it soon becomes" disiprtedi or displaced; and? assumes a most unnatural a pearance, so that itno longerserveseifectivelyas'a; Pure. Itlis to overcome these general objectionsito the use of" fresh as-liires-that I have provided my" f'r'esh fish holder.

The principalobiect ofmy present invention, therefore, is to provide-"a convenient means for holding .az'fresh lure-hi a' natur'al p ositibnf A further object of my device is; to provide means whereby; a freely fish= lure may? be used for relatively long periods until it. has been actually attacked:andv taken by the g'ame fish sought}-v f furtherobjeotpi mymvennon is to provide means Wherebythe fish" lure may" be formedlasto shape and: heldin' that posit'ibn'dilring the usual fishinglife'of the'same." g

ous parts shown in the arrangement preferred for fishing the lure. r

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of my bait holder.

7 Fig. 3 is a top plan view of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4' is a perspective view showing my bait holder by itself without attachments, and illustrating one form of the securing means used to 7 hold the bait fish in the protective shield.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5--5 fishing 1m omeaoer la n" of 2 showing in dottedlihesthe distortion shield h'lemb'er'dlllih'g" th'eiins'ertion of the baitsh.

- "efe'rring more particularly totli'e disclbsmeii the" drawings; 'the'riunier'afl f0 dies'i'gnates the shield forming'the' principal portion of my lure; holder; Thief prefertoniakengener'ally a conical 'sh'erpe' and of transparent mater i.- Further; f prefe'rf to? use atransparentmat g is somewhat flexible thatthis :1' "bi ty of the material maybe 7 used fie facilitate secure engagement of thefish'. M

Referring to- Figs; 2 and-"4', it wil] be" observed thatin side elevation shield Hlis flared e7p=- preciahly, as contrasted? wit-h the showingpr Fig. 3 which is aftbff'plan'v This enerar nape is probably best iii'usfiratea Fig. {i3 where, war be noted that the horizons? aids or the open"- endei the shield is much less than" the vertiifal -l1@ !*d='l$fiiil seeuretito impaiing 5hr l2 ead leaniin'g end mans-g the 'pernng thereim slightly smaller than the di amet'e'r of pin I 2 ceases at binding n: ana te insurez thi's lo'ok a otwat b proof glue: used on the odntactin' extension of this pin is piovided letat i diiwhihh transmits me i g ,.u'sually'a sw i l e and th'en tlietmV-iiig' or be attached; 4

1 As view-ed: from-the top is to' be eaten: mat: the" imip'alin z pit-1 12.: is-2 deformed e57 me rela tively sharpi bend as: shown in ing-"3i an 213i: 'l iiisi io'rrn 'of-l pin nunn'in'g through the" flesh ofi the? herring gives;the her:r ing.; on other baitfi'sh useii. a-idefinite bend in: the: lidriaon'tai plane- This g ilisi the fishaani angular set whioli: acts as do many ofzi the artificial plugs; in that it: creates a wobblingl or dartin gfaictioniinlthe baittfishi l h is' action creates the impression of an injured fish,

which is the most sought after of all baits in that the fish attacking expects to make a kill with the least efiort.

In Fig. 4, it will be noted that the shell of the shield in the horizontal axis is provided with two inwardly directed deformed portions as 24 and 26. These indentations normally are so positioned as to engage the bait fish in the area immediately behind the gills, so that the bait fish is held quite securely within the cone-like shield 10.

To further co-act with my shield I0, I have provided as my preferred form of my hook attachment the fish hook 40, which is secured by flexible means 4| to the towing line as indicated in Fig. l by the ring 42. A very satisfactory adjustment of the length of connector 4| is to provide it of sufficient length so that the barb end of hook 40 may be entered in the anus of the fish. This adjustment, once made, will usually serve for an extended period, as the bait fish used at any one time are normally from runs of fish that are substantially of the same size. Normally]: prefer that connector 4| run inside of shield 10.

In order. to impart a life-like action to my lure, I provide, in my preferred form, opposed spirally positioned ribs or' fins 44 and 45, as

illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3 and 5.

In using my lure, the first operation normally is to thread the bait fish onto the impaling hook l2, until its nose begins to enter shield I0. At this point, shield I0 is compressed on its major axis in cross-section after the showing of Fig.5, and then the head of the bait fish is entered as fully as it can be, without distortion. Pressure is, then released and the securing means-which may be of a form shown in Fig. 4 is then engaged with the fish to hold it in place. The next operation is to engage hook 40, as indicated, into the body of the fish, or even into the flesh of the fish, in some instances. Owing to the bend in pin 12, after the showing of Fig. 3, the fish will then form a bent bait, as though it might be a fish that has been struck by another fish and has. escaped: This bend will cause the fish to perform various gyrations as it is passed through the water, and this has been found to be very efiective.

It is believed that it will be clearly apparent from the above description and the disclosure in the drawings that the invention comprehends a novel construction of a bait-fish holder.

Havingthus described my invention, I claim: 1. In a bait-fish holding device, the combination of a resilient thin-walled transparent shield a fishing hook, and a flexible connector secured .-,to the line attaching means in front of said shield and connected to said fishing hook.

; 2. In a bait-fish holding device, the combination of a resilient thin-walled transparent shield having a height of greater extent than its width, an impaling pin having a body of uniform cross section for a substantial portion of its length and sharpened at its rear end, and its forward end providingline attaching means, means for attachingsaid shield to said impaling pin, said impaling pin being provided with a bend at the rear of the shield and intermediate the ends of the pin, said shield having means formed therein adapted to engage the bait-fish at the rear of its ill area, a fishing hook, flexible means secured to the line attaching means and connected to said fishing hook, andtwo curved fins attached to the opposite sides of said shield.

1 3. In a bait-fish holding device, the combination of a resilient thin-walled transparent shield having aheight of greater extent than its width, an impaling pin having a body of uniform cross section for a substantial portion of its length and sharpened at its rear end, and flat at its forward end to provide a line attaching means, means for attaching said shield to said impaling pin,'said impaling pin being provided with an angular bend at the rear of the shield and intermediate the ends of the pin, a fishing hook, and

flexible means secured to the fiat end of said impaling pin forwardly of said shield and connected to said fishing hook.

4. In a bait-fish holding device, the combination of a resilient thin-walled transparent shield having a height of greater extent than its width, said shield having opposed'deformed inwardly directed rear portions adapted to engage the bait-fish at the rear of its gill area, an impaling pin having a body of uniform cross section for a substantial portion of its length, sharpened at its rear end and provided at its forward end with line attaching means, means for attaching said shield to said impaling pin, said impaling pin being provided with a bend at the rear of the shield and intermediate the ends of the pin, a fishinghook, and means for attaching said fishing hook to said line attaching means.

WILLIAM V. BELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

